A Week of Inspiration

by N. Eichenhorn

MORRISTOWN, NJ [CHI] — The population of Yeshiva Tiferes Bachurim more than doubled in a week. The yearly Winter Program at Morristown is always inspirational and educational, but this year was unique. More than fifty College-age youth from around the United States and, South America, Israel and Europe came for the week after Chanukah in order to immerse themselves in the yeshiva environment and experience in-depth learning, most for the first time in their lives. The schedule of events was filled with nonstop classes, lectures and encounters with Rabbis and an outing to NY and a sports GYM.

More pictures in the Extended Article!

“There are three doors: choose door number one, you tell the story of what led you here. Door number two, you tell a Torah insight. Door number three, I give you a mitzvah to take on,” Solicited Rabbi Dovid Dick from the head of the multi-pronged Shabbos table in the Berger Auditorium during the evening meal. Nearly every one of the guests chose door number one and then three. Story after story filled the air and left the atmosphere alive with exhilaration, laughter and sympathy. The public school teacher who recently decided to wear a yarmulke to class; the graduate student who was pushed toward the local Chabad House when his campus “Jewish” organization insisted their sukkah was “just for show” and was amazed by the home he found there; the trio of cadets from the USMA West Point who put mezuzahs on their barracks’ doors.

Shabbos day brought a special story: that of Yaakov Ephraim Parisi. Born in Brooklyn after the second World War, Parisi grew up speaking Italian to his strictly Catholic parents. After a series of disillusionments from his peers in the Church and the clergy he was taught to left his Roman Catholic left the Catholic Church as a young man, determined never to set foot in a Catholic church again. Later, as an adult, Parisi and his wife embraced Evangelical Protestantism and joined a church in California. He moved up the ranks, becoming one of the most influential preachers in the church. When he began assigned by the head pastor to read from Leviticus, he learned about all the things in the Bible Christians weren’t doing, his discoveries grew and his confidence in his church plummeted. He eventually left to start his own church because his ideas, including performing certain Jewish rituals and rejecting much of traditional Christianity, were too much for the establishment to handle. He opened a new church and gained some followers. Things didn’t end there, however. As he learned, he begin to doubt even the fundamentals of his faith. Eventually he rejected the doctrine of the Trinity an even publicly denied the divinity of Jesus. He closed his church, opting to go to Denver and convert to Judaism under the famous Hornsteipler Rebbe.

As he spoke, Yaakov Ephraim whipped the crowd into an excited fervor, jumping as he spoke, swinging his arms and banging on the podium, exhibiting overall the energy of a much younger man. “L’chaim!” he called, as he took a drink of water, “L’chaim, L’chaim, Yaakov Ephraim!” came the reply from all assembled.

Words of Torah and Chassidus were spoken by Rabbi Dick and the students ate and talked long into the night, and some into the following morning. Shabbos day passed with much singing and spirited celebration.

As the sun set, the guests began to go back home. Many had made new and important friends during their brief experience in “the world’s greatest yeshiva” and several expressed a desire to return as soon as possible, and some simply didn’t leave and stayed on, learning throughout the week that followed.

These programs come but twice a year and the permanent student body looks forward to it almost as much as the guests. It gives those who have been here for months or even years a perspective on how lucky they are to be here, constantly immersed in an environment of learning and friendship.

To learn more about our programs or to enroll someone for our summer “Taste of Yeshiva” experience please contact Rabbi Boruch Hecht at boruchhecht@tiferesonline.com

2 Comments

  • Aryeh Leib Rosenblatt

    I went to tifes and had the experience of a life time. I was there for a year and a half and learned about the foundations of faith an life. I’ll never forget the rabbis and friends I made there. if you can go….go!

  • Yehoshua Sussman

    Tiferes is a wonderful place for any Jewish guy-from the beginner to the seasoned student. The Rabbi sthere are great teachers and have an ear for the challenges people new to traditional Judaism face. The friends you make there will be very close. I graduated over a year and a half ago and I speak to, learn with and see my friends from Morristown all the time!